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Game 68: Upon Further Review, A Win

Posted Mar 16, 2014
by Aaron Portzline
| 0 comments

Between Wes Walz’s metaphysical goal in 2006 and Rick Nash’s goal being overruled because of a highstick in 2008, the Xcel Energy Center has been a house of mysterious and crushing video review rulings for the Blue Jackets. So when last night’s game hung in the balance as that process endured again – was Ryan Johanson’s shootout goal legit? – the ghosts of heartbreaks past could be heard cackling in the catacombs.

This time, though, they taunted the Wild.

Johansen’s goal in the fourth round of the shootout was allowed to stand, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-1 victory over the Wild before 19,042.

It was a seismic win in many ways. The two teams played back and forth hockey, trading blows and scoring chances with a mixture of speed and skill and checks. Those who love hockey would have loved this game.

“It’s an absolutely huge win for us,” Johansen said. “You never know how that’s going to go when it goes to review. But I think they got the call right. I think we deserved to win this game, absolutely.

“We hung in there. We were down 2-0 in the shootout, we had two guys keep it alive, we had (goaltender Sergei) Bobrovsky playing out of his mind, and we found a way.”

After falling behind 2-0 through 1 ½ innings of the shootout, the Blue Jackets got stay-alive goals from Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu in the second and third rounds, respectively, and a stay-alive save from Sergei Bobrovsky on Jason Pominville in the third.

The Blue Jackets’ regulation goal was scored by Dalton Prout, his second of the season.

Bobrovsky was sensational again, with 32 saves.

But it all hung in the balance as the NHL review booth in Toronto deliberated on Johansen’s shootout attempt.

In question was whether Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper made an initial stop on Johansen’s attempt, or if Johansen maintained possession until he buried it behind the Wild’s rookie. (Once a goalie makes a save, the attempt is null.)

NHL official Kelly Sutherland initially ruled “no goal” on the ice, but video replay showed Johansen’s stickblade between Kuemper’s right pad and the puck.

“(Assistant coach) Dan Hinote on was on the headset, talking with (video coach) Dan Singleton, and (Singleton) thought it was a goal,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said, describing the mood on the bench. “But just because we think it’s a goal doesn’t mean it’s going to be a goal.”

Sutherland skated to center ice, made the announcement and was booed lustily by the home crowd.

The Blue Jackets jumped off the bench to swarm Johansen and Bobrovsky.

For Blue Jackets fans, Wes Walz’s name had to leap to mind the very moment Sutherland grabbed the headset from the off-ice official.

In 2006, shortly after the NHL made a rule that the entirety of a puck must be seen over the goalline before it could be ruled a goal, the league granted the Wild a goal without seeing any part of the puck even in the net.

That’s right. The puck was lodged in Walz’s britches when Walz was torpedoed into the net during a melee in front. A search ensued for the puck as Walz crawled from the net, the puck falling from his pants as he neared the slot.

Goal!

The Blue Jackets were furious. GM Doug MacLean was said to have called longtime friend Colin Campbell in the league office at least five times before the Jackets left the building that night. The league shrugged at its own rule, essentially, and said: “You know what we meant, c’mon.”

Two years later, Nash got his stick on a shot in overtime and redirected it into the Wild net for what the Blue Jackets thought was the winning goal. Not so fast.

Upon review, the league ruled that Nash had redirected the puck with a highstick, explaining that due to “inconclusive evidence on the ice the call is overruled.” Wait. What? Then-coach Ken Hitchcock was apoplectic after the game.

One of the saving graces of the current Blue Jackets is that they know nothing of Wes Walz and some of them have never even met Rick Nash. Theirs is not the sorrow and struggle of yesterday, but the hope of tomorrow.

They just play.

The win pushed the Blue Jackets ahead of both the New York Rangers and Philadelphia and into second place in the Metropolitan Division.

Oh, the drama.

Prout scored on a wrister through traffic with only 21.6 second left in the second period, giving the Jackets a 1-0 lead.

The Wild responded three minutes deep in the third, when Zach Parise tracked down a puck behind Bobrovsky and fired to Pominville who was fast approaching through the right circle.

The shootout was almost foretold by the performance of Bobrovsky and Kuemper, a precocious rookie.

Parise scored in the first round for the Wild, lifting the puck through Bobrovsky’s stick side. Cam Atkinson was stuffed by Kuemper’s pads, moving it on to the second round.

Mikko Koivu went to his backhand and cleared Bobrovsky’s left pad to make it 2-0, requiring Anisimov – a proud papa – to score to keep the game alive. He scored behind Kuemper with a flurry of moves.

Bobrovsky then stopped Pominville with his right pad to keep the game alive, and Letestu forced a fourth round with a score around Kuemper’s right pad.

Bobrovsky’s stop of Moulson put the puck in Johansen’s court.

He came in slowly, dangled the puck a few times, then pulled it back in as Kuemper came out to cut off his angle, making contact with his right pad and Johansen’s blade.

Johansen is now 3 of 7 in shootouts this season.

“You don’t see too many wins when you’re down 2-0 in the shootout,” Richards said. “Huge goals by Arty and Mark Letestu to keep it going, and a huge save in between by Bobrovsky.”

The Blue Jackets fell into eighth place in the Eastern Conference and into the second wild-card spot after the Rangers win in Winnipeg on Friday and the Flyers rout of Pittsburgh earlier in the day Saturday.

As they flew home late last night, the Jackets were in 2nd place in the Metro.

“Before the game we were talking in here amongst each other about what’s going on in the league,” Prout said. “We have to win to keep pace, keep making ground.

“We do have games-in-hand on some teams around us, so this puts the pressure back on the other teams.”

Side dishes:

-- Too many regular-season games are called "playoff" games, but this one qualifies. Officials played along by swallowing their whistles. The Blue Jackets were called for one penalty - David Savard for interference at 9:04 of the 2nd period. The Wild were not called for any penalties, giving the Blue Jackets a rare game without any power plays.

-- Boone Jenner stepped into the faceoff circle more than a few times in place of Johansen tonight. Richards said it was their call, that Johansen was struggling in the circle and Jenner was having more luck off his backhand. Kids.

-- The Blue Jackets are off on Sunday. They don't have a game until Tuesday, which is good. They are dog tired.

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